Triangle OBGYN Medical Team Performs Follow-up Cancer Surgery on Gorilla

September 10, 2008; Cary, NC - A team of medical
professionals from Triangle OBGYN and Duke University
Medical Center successfully performed a difficult and
intricate surgery August 27, 2008 on "Donna,"
a 39 year old, female Western Lowland Gorilla who
lives at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, NC.

Senior Veterinarian Ryan De Voe, DVM at the
North Carolina Zoological Park contacted
Sameh Toma, M.D. and Gerald Mulvaney, M.D.
at Triangle OBGYN to assist his staff in doing a
total hysterectomy on Donna. This procedure was
a follow-up to surgery that Drs. Toma and Mulvaney
performed in November 2007 which resulted in a
diagnosis of endometrial cancer. Because of the
nature of Donna's cancer, the team from Triangle
OBGYN brought in Dr. Fidel Vilea, a
Gynecologist/Oncologist, from Duke University
Medical Center to consult on the surgery and
insure that all malignancies would be removed.

As of today, the 400 pound gorilla is nearly back to normal. "Donna is doing great. She recovered from anesthesia very quickly
and began taking oral fluids and some fruit the morning after surgery," says Ryan DeVoe, Senior Veterinarian at the NC Zoological
Park. "When I went to visit her I honestly couldn't tell anything had happened to her. She is one tough monkey."

Zoos around the world utilize the services of (human) medical doctors when dealing with great ape cases. The NC Zoo reached
out to Drs. Toma and Mulvaney at Triangle OBGYN for help since gorilla reproductive anatomy, physiology and pathology is
so similar to that of humans.

"For years, we have benefited from animal experimentation. Now we have had the opportunity to give back. Our vast experience
and deep fund of knowledge in human medicine has allowed us to provide assistance to our veterinary colleagues in difficult
surgical cases in which they are less experienced due to the rarity of this type of procedure in animals," says Gerald Mulvaney, MD
at Triangle OBGYN. "The anatomy of the female gorilla is close enough to the human anatomy, that it allows us to use our skills
that have been refined over years because of large volumes of human surgeries similar to this one. This has provided a cooperative
relationship between human and veterinary medicine that we encourage and hope to continue in the future."

"The zoo is buzzing with news of Donna's successful procedure and the great medical team that was here to pull it off. You guys
have no idea how thankful we are for your help," remarked Dr. DeVoe from the North Carolina Zoological Park.

News & Observer Article
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1216168.html#MI_Comments_Link

NBC 17's MyNC.com Video:
http://cary.mync.com/site/cary/news/story/8688/loc

WFMY-TV - Greensboro, NC
http://www.digtriad.com/news/features/article.aspx?storyid=110641&catid=216

Greensboro News-Record
http://blog.news-record.com/staff/health/